Grave message

Green activists demanding urgent action on climate change staged a mock funeral through the city centre on Saturday.

Carrying a giant coffin symbolising the loss of plant and animal life which has been predicted if global temperatures continue to rise, more than 100 protesters from the Extinction Rebellion group took to the streets of Canterbury to show their concern for the environment.

After gathering in Iron Bar Lane, the demonstrators marched down the High Street in a “New Orleans” style funeral procession to a mixture of mournful and joyous music.

Spokesman Nicholas Thurston said the event, called Life or Loss, represents the choice the global population has “between carrying on living the way we are now, and losing that for future generations”.

Many dressed in black, the environmentalists stopped off to conduct funeral “services” at six different points as they marched down the High Street to the Westgate Towers, during which they read out the names of species which have become extinct.

At the end, the group, part of an international movement which has organised a series of disruptive events in an effort to draw attention to the climate crisis, brought traffic to a standstill several times by blocking off roads with banners.

Extinction Rebellion also caused mayhem for drivers during a previous protest in the city in January.

“We thought long and hard about doing that again, because we don’t like the whole disruption thing, we don’t want to cause pain and anguish to people,” Mr Thurston continued.

“It’s quite daunting, but we are starting to feel that this is the moment in time when we will begin to change the course of history. It was an amazing turnout, and really affecting.”

Extinction Rebellion, which says climate change is not being treated as the crisis it is, wants the government to declare a climate emergency and make policy commitments for zero carbon by 2025. Thursday, March 7, 2019 Kentish Gazette (KG)